Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular air conditioner that is mounted in a vehicle for adjusting the temperature in the interior of a vehicle cabin by blowing air, the temperature of which is adjusted by a heat exchanger, into the vehicle cabin.
Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a vehicular air conditioner, which is installed in a vehicle, takes in interior and exterior air by a fan into an air conditioner casing, which is formed with an airflow passage in the interior thereof. Chilled air, which is cooled by an evaporator type of cooling means, and heated air, which is heated by a heater core type of heating means, are mixed at a desired mixing ratio inside the air conditioner casing through operation of air mixing doors. Thereafter, for example, the mixed air passes through a blower duct from a plurality of openings disposed in the air conditioner casing, and is blown out into the interior of the vehicle cabin to thereby adjust the temperature and humidity in the vehicle cabin.
As a vehicular air conditioner of this type, for example as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-250345, on a downstream side from the evaporator, a first air mixing door is disposed in a passage that communicates with the heater core, and a second air mixing door is disposed in a passage that is connected directly to the blower opening in bypassing relation to the heater core. In addition, by controlling driving of the first and second air mixing doors, respectively, the temperature of the air that is blown out into the interior of the vehicle cabin from the blower opening is adjusted.
In the case that two air mixing doors are provided in this manner, in comparison with a case in which cooled air and heated air are adjusted at a given mixing ratio by a single air mixing door, the apparatus can be made smaller in scale. Additionally, by using a butterfly type instead of a sliding type of air mixing door, delivery and distribution of air from the upstream side to the downstream side can be enhanced, together with the advantage that air can be guided suitably to the blower opening.